Implement handle



E. J. SVVEETLANDA IMPLEMENT; HANDLE Filed June 28, 1937 Plusfc' abb,mute-rial 25 28 June 25, 1940.

INVENTOR 4vis Patented `iune 25,1940

1 Application .ruse 2e. naar, sean ne. icones e filiairns.

This invention relatesto grips or handles for implements of variouskinds and may be used upon any tool, implement or appliance requiring ahand grip. It is applicable for golf clubs, fencg ing foils, tennisrackets, oars, paddles,A iishi'ng rods, etc., and various other typesof. sporting implements, and for grips on pistols and so-called pistolgrips cn the stocks of guns, as well as for various tools such ashammers, chisels, trowels, etc., and for crutch grips and the like. Itmay also be. used 4for bicycle or motorcycle grips, lever l handles ofvarious kinds and thelike.-` This application is-a continuation in partof my application for United States Patent Serial No. 728,816 filed June4,1934 for Golf club and implement handle, now Patent No. 2,121,718.

An object'of my invention is to provide an implement handle or grip(these terms are interchangeably used herein) which can be manufacturedon a production basis and oiered through the usual trade channels in theform of a standardized grip for various types of implements.'

` After the purchaser obtains the type of grip suited to his particularneeds, it is a simple operation for him to mold the grip to fit his handperfectly, and after this simple operation is com- `pleted and the gripallowed to set, Vit permanently retains its shape. With my invention iti`s possible not only for the individual user to mold the grip to fithis hand perfectly, but he may, if desired, shape-the lgrip`to a round,oval or rectangular cross-section to suit his particular requirement. IA I I am aware that certain patents of yrecord illustrate means formaking implementgrips that are designed to nit the hands of the user;Certain of these inventions of record describe highly technical methods,the carrying out ofwhich would require too much inconvenience or toomuch technical skill for. the average user, and consequently they havelnever comeinto popular use. Another type to be found in patentrecordsrelates to grips which are permanently molded in the factory toapproximate the shape ofthe user's` hands; but since theseinventions-are produced from factory moldsof standardized forms. it isimpossible to design them to exactly lit any particular users handbecausegof the great variation i in the size and form` of hands ofdifferent indi-` viduals. The present invention is notto be con i fusedwith either of these classesof inventions,

as no skill is required in forming the grip, and

each grip whenA formed is as individual as a plaster 'cast of a personshand. i

invention possesses other advantageous features, some of which withthe-foregoing, l be set forth in the following description where theforms of the invention which have been selected for illustration in thedrawing accompanying and forming a part oi the present specicad tion areoutlined in full. However, T do not confine my invention to the specincforms set forth in the drawing and speciiication nor to the specificuses of the invention herein set forth, as it is capable of manymodifications and uses which i0 are limitedonly by the scope of theappended claims.

The method of carrying out my invention will be understood by referenceto the accompanying drawing wherein: c

Figure l represents a side elevation partially in section of a handlefor a knife or similar implement made in accordance with my invention.

Figure 2 is across section on thev lines 2--2 of Fig. 1.` i

Figure ,3 is alongitudinal section of a handle for a hammer r similarimplement showing a. metallic end piece whereby the end of the handle isprotected against injury during-use or while the handle is being driveninto an implement, 35 such as a hammer head. i

Figure 4 is an end view of the grip shown in Figure-3. v

Figure 5 is a longitudinal section showing onemethodv of adapting my.invention for use as a 50 golfl club grip.

Figure 6 is an end view of the golf club grip shown in Figure 5. Y l

Figure 'l shows in longitudinal section e type of grip'that may be usedfor fishing rods or similar 35 implements. This view shows a ethod ofinjecting a uid into the interior of th grip for the purpose ofplasticizing same.

Referring to the drawing in detail andpartic- 4 v d ularly to Figure ,1,i is the blade of an implementl 40 such as a hunting'knife which isprovided with the guard 2. The tang of the knifeextends most of the waythrough the interior of thc` handle as indicated by .the dotted lines'3.In manufacturingthe knife, thetang of the blade is first provided" witha. handle made'of Wood, Bakelite or othermaterial very much as anordinary knife handle. is made except that the handle issomewhat1smalier. In Figures 1 and 2 this handle 5 is riieted to thevtang I by means of the rivets 4. 5 The forward part of the handle 6abuts the guard 2, tofwhich it is secured by any convenient means.` andthe groove in the handle receives the winding of cord orwire 8, and thissecures the'leather /or other covering materials securely in place atthe u front end o f the handle. Inside ofthe handle is a plasticizeablefilling material Il, such as plaster of Paris, and within this body ofmaterial may be placed as many layers as desired of a reinforcingmaterial as shown at l2. Thisl material may be any textile fabric suchas cotton gauze, cheesecloth, or crinoline, or it maybe made of aflexible wire cloth such for instance as ordinary bronze flyscreen. If atextile fabric is used it may be sized-with glue or other sizing, ifdesired, and I prefer a fabric of open mesh construction that permitsthe plaster of Paris or other cement-like material used to penetratethereinforcement. In making the grip shown in Figures 1 and 2 variousprocedures maybe used within the spirit of my invention. The followingis one method of. producing the desired result: The cover 9 may be madeof chamois or some other porous type of leather. This is cut to theproper size and stitched in such manner that it is made in the form of abag with only one end open.' This bag is preferably turned inside outafter stitching so that the seam is then on the inside. (The seams inthe covering are omitted from the drawing.) If. a. fabricsuch vascrinoline` or cheese-cloth is used for reinforcing this may be cuttoshape and then well loaded with dry powdered plaster of Paris orsimilar material. This is then rolled about a form and placed inside ofthe chamois bag. In this manner a layer of drypowdered plaster of Parisor similar material lies between the fabric and the wall of the bag andthe layers of fabric are also separated by a layer. of the powder. Thetang which has already been equipped with the handle 5 is now insertedinto the bag and any remaining space in the bag completely filled withplaster of. Paris. The end of the bag is drawn into the groove aroundthe handle 6 by means of the wire or string 6 and trimmed, and thehandle is complete except for thte plasticizing operation which will bedescribed la er.

Obviously various different techniques may be employed to carry out theobjects just described. Forinstance the leather or chamois bag may beleft open at both ends and the .handle inserted and the string or wire B.tightened into place while the casing is still empty. After this isdone, the plasticizeable powder and reinforcing fabric may be insertedin any desirable manner, after which the end I3 of the grip may be clsedby sewing or by the use of suitable cement..

While the reinforcing material is desirable from a standpoint ofstrength and durability, I do not limit my invention to the use of thisreinforcing material, nor the particular method in which it is applied,as the plaster or cement alone with its cover of leather will provide asatisfactory grip for certain purposes.

In the'form above described the grip' shown in Figures 1 and 2 is readyforsale and distribution. In this form the handle is approximately thesize and shape of an ordinary knife vhandle although ordinarily it wouldbe slightly larger due to the fact that the material come pacts somewhatafter plasticizing.

wet leather ls son and nxlble and yields readily to whatever form isdesired. Chamois in particular is capable of stretching considerably andit is therefore readily amenable to formation into any desired shape. Ifit is desired to make the grip flt the hand of an individual user, thatperson firmly squeezes the-handle after it has been thoroughly wettedand plasticized as explained, and upon so doing, he squeezes the surpluswater out of the grip and at the same time leaves the exact impressionof his hands upon'the surface ofthe grip.. In this condition the grip islaid aside and the plaster is allowed to set and the surplus moisture todry out. This leaves the grip firm and rigid and in a form that exactlyfits the individuals hand. Obviously, if he prefers the grip to beinround or oval form, he molds the handle accordingly. It should be notedthat while the chamois or similar porous leather permits moisture toenter the interior of the grip freely to moisten the plaster, it formsan ideal filter medium and entirely prevents the v escape of any plasterduring the operation.

Many variations in the shape of the grip may be made to suit theindividuals taste as for instancethe end of the handle may be formedinto a knob or it may be drawn out to a rounded point.

If desired, t`o meet special requirements, cotton or other textilefabric such as muslin may be substituted for the chamois but I preferchamois on account of its extreme softness and flexibility when wet. i

l Referring to Figure 3 which represents a handle for a hammer orsimilar implement, the numeral 26 designates a wooden handle the outerextremity of which has been reduced in size from the shoulder 2l to theextreme end of the handle in order to provide space for the plasticmaterial. represents holes in the handle to form secure anchorage forthe plaster filling. Any method of scoring or roughening the surfacemaybe used. The handle is rounded oil' at the edge 22 to avoid any sharpedges bearing against the outer covering of` leather or other material23. A groove 2| is formed in the handle to facilitate tying the -cover23 in place. 25 represents a fabric for reinforcing the plasticizeablematerial and in this instance this fabric is shown immediately.adjacentthe leather covering. It may or may not befcemented to theouter cover at the option of the manufacturer. If it is desired to makethe grip somewhat soft to the touch, felt may be used as reinforcing at25, and in this event it is preferable to cement the lining, orreinforcing layer, to the outer cover'. At the end of the grip is ametal guard 26 which is held in place by the screw il'l.

As is' well known, the customary manner of i securing the head of ahammer upon the handle uniformly spaced or at random may be used,

if desired. l

Y 'I'his grip is plasticized in the manner described with reference toFigures 1 and 2 if the covering 2 3 is of porous material.- If it isdesired to make Eli shaft it may be a layer of felt t2 which I prefer toattach to the shaft by means of shellac or other cement. The object ofthis layer is to act as a shock absorber and prevent the jar that occurswhena ball is struck from being communicated through the grip to thehands of the user. The piasticizeable material naturally adheres to thefelt layer and prevents the grip from moving on the' shaft. itrepresents a body l of plasticizeable material such as plaster of Paris.

lli is a layer of reinforcing fabric which may be such material ascheese-cloth, crinoline or the like and dilo, is the leather outercovering which is secured to the shaft by the Winding d5 and to the capit by the winding di. The cap tt'imay be of libre, Bakelite or othersuitable material and this is provided with a threaded opening dt whichis normally closed by the screw tid. At intervals along the steel shaftare apertures di to permit a fluid which. enters through the threadedopening it to reach the plasticizeable material. The layer of felt d2acts as a lter septum between the interior of the grip which is lledwith plasticizea'ble material it and the hole through the shaft of theclub. Thus the water or other fluid necessary to plasticize the materialil?! may pass into the annular space that is filled with plasticlzeablematerial but the latter cannot escape throughthe felt,l due to itsfiltering action. l

This gold club grip may be constructed invarious ways, a convenientmethod being as foi--` lows: The grip portion of the shaft iscoated withshellac and spirally wound with the layer oi felt d2- and ,the shellacallowed to dry. The reinforcing fabric dt and the leather covering idaare formed together on a conical mandrel.

'.ilhis may be done by first placing the layer of fabric on the mandreland sewing or cementing the edges together; then the leather cover whichhas previously been cut to sizel ls formed to shape on the conicalmandrel on top of the fabric. The leather cover may be made with a'longitudinally stitched seam or the edges of the leather may be skivedand cemented together upon the conical mandrel ontop of the fabricreinforcement. The fabric reinforcement and leather are removed from themandrel together and slipped over the lsmall end of the shaft before thehead has. been attached. The leather is then tied to the shaft as shownat it leaving .the upper end of the conical leather cover open. f Theplasticizeable powder such as plaster of Paris is not packed into thecover tornll the removed and a source of water under pressure ls This isdone by the ultimate user of ytheV connected with the threaded aperture4t. Water is forced into the space t2 through perforations di andthrough the layer of felt l2 to moisten the body of plasticizeablematerial (plaster of Paris) d3. A few pin holes 53 may be placed in theleather cover'dila to permit the escape of air, if necessary. After thenecessary amount of Water has entered, the entire grip is kneaded andworlred in the hands `preferably while the aperture till is stillconnected with the source of water supply. In this manner the plaster isuniformly plasticized and at the same time the.

leather is naturally softened by the effect ofthe water. The handle isnowdisconnected from the *3 .source of water supply and the owner of theclub impresses his grip into the handle which squeezes out the surpluswater through felt tid,

holes di and till after which it is allowed to dry and the screw d@ isreplaced. The finished club l now bears the impression of the ownershands and enables him to hold it securely, and always to grip it in thesame manner.

An alternate method of making golf club grips which gives highlysatisfactory results is by -using chamois or other porous leather forthe cover ddd in which event the perforations di, the threaded aperturetit and the screw it may be omitted. Under this procedure the grip lsplasticized by penetration of the water through 4the y porous cover andthe procedure issimilar to that described in connection with Figure l.In Figure 5 the sectional view illustrates the golf club gripas it isconstructed prior to impressing the form of the users hand. It should beunderstood that While the body of material it is in plastic orsemi-fluid condition it is quite mobile and the operator can cause it toflow in any manner desired within the confines of the cover fida.

vlThis cover possesses a certain degreeof elasticity and it is thereforepossible for the opererator to form bulges or depressions to satisfy histaste. For instance if he puts a, considerable pressure with his handson the upper end-of the grip, the plastic material tends to now towardthe other end and to enlarge that portion and the reverse operation maybe performed with equal convenience, but in anyevent the plastic orsemieuid material is always confined ,by the permanent cover dta whichforms the wearing surface of the completed handle and which is at alltimes during the plasticizing operation held firmly inv place by thewindings dii and et?. Even though the coverA @da is sumcient-ly porous(such as chamois) to allow the escape of moisture while the grip isbeing formed, it positively confines the plastic material to theinterior of the grip; thus it not only prevents the loss of material butit 'maires the operation a neat and cleanly one.

The grip illustrated in Figurev 'lmay be used for various purposesl AItcomprises a shaft di which has a shanlrtZ` turned to a ieduceddiamyeter. and' surrounding this shaft are a plurality of layers ofreinforcing' fabric t3 between the layers'of which is the body ofplaster ofPiaris or. othersimilar material 6d. The cover of leather orother material tb is tied in the'grooves td `as shown at lili.' Inthiscase iti-is assumed that `the cover t6 is made of a non-porous typeof leather or it may be made of rubber `or any nexible sheet material.ln this modification the plaster within the grip is wetted by means of ahypodermic needle B8 which penetrates the cover and any suitable form ofgun" or syringe as dit tol

indicated at i8 may be used for injecting the 75 uuid.l 'rmsmodification is designed for grips' where it is not practical to use aporous material While I have repeatedly referred to plaster- 'of Parisas the plasticizeable lling material within the grip and while thismaterial furnishes highly satisfactory results, I do not limit myself tothis material. Other forms of cement that plasticize when brought incontact with a liquid and afterwards set or harden may be used. Includedamong these are various types of socalled artificial stone used indental laboratories,

cements with a magnesium base, Portland cement, etc., and these andsimilar materials may be used alone or in conjunction with othermaterials that tend to affect the hardness of the finished product, thelength of` time required to set, etc. However, plaster of Paris givesentirely satisfactory results and I may use in conjunction with it anychemical or other,A material known in the arts that has to do with theduration `of setting, the hardness or gravity ot the finished product,etc. 4

An example of another type of lling material that may be used in thegrip is a mixture of ground wood with cellulose nitrate or acetate,Pyroxilin, Vinylite or any of the various plastics that are used in thearts and which when in powdered or granular form become plastic whenbrought in contact with a solvent such as acetone. Such a mixture asground wodcr kieselguhr'when mixed with a pulverized plastic such vascellulose acetate or Vinylite may be v used to f advantage where extremelightness of the grip is desired. If such a composition as this is usedin the golf club grip as illustrated -ln Fig. 5, then 43 would represent'the mixture of ground wood with the plastic, and when desired to moldthe grip into lorm the screw l! would be removed and acetone or othersoftening agent would be injected through the holes 48 and 5I into theinterior'of the grip which would be kneaded until uniformly plasticized,after which the impression'of the hands would be made and the solventallowed to evaporate. If such a compound were used in the gripillustrated in Figure 'l this material would be represented by thenumeral 64 and the acetone or other softening materialjwould be injectedthrough the'needle 68. The reinforcing mate- .rial 63, if desired, couldbe omitted when this procedure is used.

My invention is not based upon the precise nature of the plasticizeablematerial used as a ller. Any suitable cement or plastic known in thearts which is softened or plasticized by contact with a suitable fluidAand whichv afterwards hardens or "sets due to the action oi' the fluidupon the plasticizeablematerial, comes within the scope of my inventionwhen used in substantially the manner set forth inthe foregoing speci-`iication and inthe following claims, although I prefer a water-hardenedcement, such as plaster of Paris,A due to the greater simplicity andease of manipulation.

Throughout the following claims the term lplasticizeable is intended tomean capable of being plasticized.

Where the term fluid-hardening cement" is used in the following claimsit is intended to mean a cement material that is caused to solidify andharden when subjected to the action of a fluid. Typical examples ofmaterials coming within the scope of this dennition are plaster of Parisand Portland cement which are acted upon by water; `or cellulose acetatein comminuted form which is caused to agglomerate and harden` by theaction of acetone.

1 An implement handle comprising a corev member; la body offluid-hardening cement surrounding said core member; an envelope offlexible material surrounding said core member and cement; means forsecuring said envelope to said implement handle to retain said cementwithin said envelope; an aperture leading from the exterior of saidimplement handle to said body of cement. y Y

2. An implement handle comprising a core member; a body ofHuid-hardening cement surrounding said core member; an envelope of,iexible material surrounding said core member and cement; reinforcingmaterial interposed between said core member and said envelope; meansfor securing said envelope to said implement handle to retain saidcement and reinforcing material within said envelope; aperture meansforming communication between the exterior o! said handle and said bodyof cement and reinforcing material for admitting` a fluid into said bodyof cement. .3. An implement handle comprising a hollow coremember; abody of fluid-hardening cement surrounding said core member; an envelopeof flexible material surrounding said core member and cement; means forsecuring said :envelope to said implement handle to retain said cementwithin said envelope; alayer of porous material surrounding said hollowcore member 'and separating same 'from said body of cement; aperturesforming communication between the interior of said core member and saidlayer of porous material; an aperture leading from the exterior of said,handle by way of the interior oi' said core member whereby a uid may becaused to enter said core member and pass through its surrounding layerof porous material to cause' said cement to harden.

4. An implement grip comprising a rigid handle handle; a body of drycomminuted iluid-hardy ening cement surrounding said core member and.

enclosed within said envelope; means for admitting a uid to thelinterior of said envelope to nlasticize and then harden said cement.

' ERNEST J. SWEETLAND.

